Arch support



Feb. 10, 1948.

V P. E. ERICKSON 2,435,822

ARCH SUPPORT Filed Se'pt. 25, 1945 INVENTOR. I FRENTIE E. Emnxsnm wy/A1 Patented Feb. 1Q, 1948 in? jA H UFrQT -rf i Prentis E. Erickson, MinneapolisisMinnz- Application September zsfiaislsgnat Natl 8, 470.

7 Claims.

' My "invention relates to arch supports for feet *and has for its object to provide an arch support which at the same time will give a yieldingsp'ring 'suppo'rtto th'e'foot' and which will be adaptable toadjust'itself laterally across the foot. Many forms of arch support havebecn devised, all'seeking to engagethe sole of the foot between the heel and'the ball thereof in such a manner as toigive' central support to the frame-work of interlockedbones which make up the base of the foot. These bones are, of course, articulated and -connected by ligaments in such awa as to allow a" very considerable degree of flexibility to the 'foot itselfy'and hence it is desirable to 'have'an arch support which will adapt itself not onlyto the outer contour of the central portion of the "foot-but also to the framework of bones which make up the bony structure ofthe foot;

- I This framework, while having fundamental similarities; also has marked" variances both in people of different races and among people of the -same race. For these reasons arch supports of the type heretofore developed, while satisfactory to-some individuals have often proved very far :from satisfactory others. i

tor a very great number of v A principal difficulty in arch supports now p duced and-available for use residesin the fact that the supporting'member itself, necessarily formed of solid stress-resisting material, even 'though yielding to a degree, has been madeof a single piece of a solid, spring-1ike material, such a spring steel; This supports the archof' the foot adjustably along strictly longitudinal lines.

These lines of support extend the ball of the foot.

from the heel to But in the current arch supports the supporting member itself does not provide for twisting or hinged movements, even hinged longitudinal movements at or near its center, audit also fails to provide for any lateralor twisting 'yieldin'g" of is completelyseparated transversely along a line adjacent the center of the arch support; the difli- 'culties and failures encountered in -arch supports 1 as now' manufactured andused w'illbe effectively "1"eniedied.--"

I further-discovered that inorder to maintain "contact'with the arched sole of the foot to supportthe same and at the same time permit'the hinging and lateral twisting adjustments which v 2 effect comfortable and satisfactory arch support for'fetwithvarying' types of bony structure, it 'is desirable to "have'afl'second spring plate which V tion'of the dividedsupport- I g mmbenqwardith heel partthereof; and bridges the division or the supporting member and effects a-transfer'of supporting up- "ward thrust from; thefheel'section to the football section of the main supporting member, l0 f 'I have further" discovered that, to maintain bet- "ter'yieldi'rig contact of the front part ofthe divid'ed supportmgmmber; a'spring membermay be attached to the bridging spring member toward'thel'atters forward end and said second 'spring'"memberbe turned backwardly, 50 that, in conjunction with the'hinging of the front 'partat "the line of division and of the capacity of the two *parts to -'twist-re1ative"to one another, there-i5 produced an effective yielding contact with the y-bottom of the foot underth'e instep and to apoint gmtiretygconforms general shape" to the arch "at theinstep? of a foot; butwhich is transversely divided so the supporting member as a whole may :swingas "onahinge'longitudinally at the point of division-andmay twist transversely along the said point of division. 1 i f It is a furtherobject of my invention to employ a main supporting member divided trans- "versely across-the same and-to secure the parts of said member by riveting or otherwise to a flexible foot ontacting strip preferably formed of leather. It is a further-object of my invention to form the division of the main supporting member very slightlytareuate at the edge of each part thereof,

therewill be-v contact ofthe parts of thesupinber toward their longitudinal cen--- 1 will freeefor hi ging :01 twisting fjmovem'ents from said'point of contact, l f It is a further object of my invention to form the mainsu pcrun member "of spring steel with g a' divisionfor separation across the same which Will be positioned toward the front thereof so the "front parfimaybe of substantiall less longitudinal extent than the rear or heel part. Y

-" 'fIt is afurther" objector my invention to form fificohjuhctioh with the two parts of the divided main supporting m mber a separate spring mem "ber which 'is'firmly united with one of the parts -and' is'adapted;to engage the inner urface of the {So-sole of the shoe and to "bridge the division of the Fig. '2.

main supporting part above referred to, slidably contacting both the forward part of the main supporting member and the inner sole surface of the shoe.

It is a further object of my invention to rigidly attach the bridging member to the heel part of the main supporting member so that the yield and slide of the free end of the bridging member will be between the inner surface of the shoe sole and thepart of the main supporting member toward the front of the shoe.

It is a further object of my invention to attach to the bridging member at or toward its front a spring member which is turned backwardly -and which is adapted to press the supporting member toward the ball of the foot ator near the'f-ront part of the under instep to cause the fr ont part of the main supporting member tobe pressed inwardly with a yielding spring pressureto-make complete contact with that part of the sole of the :foot.

The full objects and advantages of my in- ;vention willappear ,in connection withlthe detailed description thereof and the novelfeatures of the invention which producethe above-indi .acated advantageous results will-be particularly pointed out inthe claims. V

In the drawings illustrating an application of my invention in one-of its forms:

Fig.1 is asideelevation-view in section through ,,;a shoe: as worn -.with a foot indicated-in dotted lines showing the position :ofthe parts of my invention.

- Fig. 2-is a. plan view of the arch support .viewed from the outside thereof or toward. the -.bottom-=of the foot as worn.

Fig. 3 is -a longitudinal sectional view taken through the arch support :alone on-line 3-+3 of .'-Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. :3 showing the arch support twisted transversely across its 'Width.

Fig. 5-is a schematic'viewillustrating how. the

.parts of the supporting member may be relatively twisted laterally 'to adjust themselves to the conformation of the under sideof the foot.

As "shown, the archsupport proper comprises This shape gives a narrower part extends toward the Wider part of the-foot ad- 'J'acent or short of the ball of the foot. "The flexible material of which the contact member is formed will be preferably of soft, and yielding leather, although other flexible materials such as fairly heavy canvas-could be employed.

Upon the outside or non-contacting side of the foot-contacting -member I ,is .secured'by rivets or other fastening means l4 and I a spring-like supporting member 16, which hasin general the outer contours ,of the flexible contact member ID, including the upward bulge in-- dicated at "in Fig. 1.

This member is shaped as if it were a single f memberand'has in general ancurvature next to the contact member 60 "similar alongbroad lines to" the longitudinal and transverse curvature .of

j the sole of, the foot. f Itis made ofspring steel -so thatlit possessesa quality .ofspring yielding 4 which tends to adapt it to fit the bottom of the feet.

I do not, however, make the member IS in a single continuous piece but I divide it at I8 transversely across the steel supporting member 16 so as to provide two parts, a rear part and a forward part. The rear part is designated as l9 and is the part which comes under the heel of the foot. The forward part is designated as 26 and comes under the part-of a foot extending substantially from the instepto or near the ball of the foot.

Rigidly secured by rivets or otherwise to the t-rearpart IQ of the supporting plate I6 is a spring member 2|. This spring member curves upwardly'andthen downwardly, as clearly indicated in Fig. -1, and engages with its forward end 22 the inner surface of the sole 23 of the shoe in which it is worn.

This spring member 2| is unattached at its forward end and is adapted to slide at its edge 2.4;11ponthe surface of forward part 20 of ;sup-

porting plate I6. The spring member 2'! will preferably be roughly hour-glass shaped as shown ,in'Fig. 2, and it bridges the lineof division H8 at its narrow point, indicated at 25.

In 'oneform of the invention a spring plate 26 is rigidly attached at 21 to the front-end .of

"the bridging member 2 I, being turned .backwardly to engage the part 20 of the supporting plate 16 and tendto push that part against the hollowedout portion of the under side of thesole of the foot, as clearly shown in Fig. '3. This is made possible because the supporting spring plate I6 is divided at I8, permitting ahinging action there. v

The parts 19 and 20 substantiallyengageeach other along itheline of division I8 toward the 'center thereofpbut are slightly separatedat their sidesas indicated at 28 and 29, as clearly shown in Fig.2.

'Theeifectof thisarrangement is, of course,

to permit direct hinging movements of the two parts Hand 20 of the supporting plate it? upon their regions of contact-at the point 2'5. It also permits lateral rocking movements of the parts l9 and 20 upon the same point of-contact, and further, and perhaps most important of all, provide freedom for lateral twisting movements across the center of the arch supporting plate, thus taking care of variances and difierencesin the underside of feet due to the differences in the essential .bony structure forming asupport for the soft parts of the foot.

These lateralv adjustments made ,in relation to theunderIying bony structure are of the highest importance in making the wearing of the arch support comfortable andinfcorrecting the abnormalities anddeficienciesof flat feet.

A f urther advantagecomes from. the fact that the arrangement of aspring member or spring members under the. divided archsupporting plate is such as to distribute the supporting stresses .to the regionsvon the under side of the .foot in ,a,manner.best to effect the transmission of supporting stresses to the bony structure .ofxthe foot.

I claim:

1. An arch support, comprising a foot-contacting member formed of material which can flex both longitudinally and transversely such as leather so as to twist transversely to conform to the varying relative shapes of the heel and front parts of the foot, and a spring plate formed in two parts by a transverse division and having each of the parts secured to the member so the parts will contact along the line of division and may twist freely to adjust themselves laterally to the conformation of the bony structure of the foot.

2. An arch support, comprising a foot-contacting member formed of material which can flex both longitudinally and transversely such as leather so as to twist transversely to conform to the varying relative shapes of the heel and front parts of the foot, and a spring plate formed in two parts by a transverse division and having each of the parts secured to the member, said division being formed with curved end portions on each of the parts so as to bring contact of the parts between central longitudinal planes of the plate and to permit the parts to rock laterally to the varying relative shapes of the heel and front parts of the foot, a spring plate formed in two parts by a transverse division and having each of the parts secured to the member so the parts will contact along the line of division and may twist freely to adjust themselves laterally to the conformation of the bony structure of the foot, a spring member secured to one of said parts, said spring member to contact the shoe and to have sliding contact to the other of said parts thus bridging over the division of the plate, and a second spring member secured to the free end of the first named spring member and extending rearwardly therealong and bent to engage the surface of the part over which the free end of the spring member slides.

6. An arch support, comprising a flexible footcontacting member, a spring plate formed in two parts by a transverse division, said plates conjointly forming with the member a continuous longitudinally extended arch, one of said plates extending toward the heel part and the other plate toward the ball part of the foot, and a 7 spring member secured at one end to the heel for adjusting the same to the foot and to the bony structure thereof.

3. An arch support, comprising a foot-contacting member formed of material which can flex both longitudinally and transversely such as leather so as to twist transversely to conform to the varying relative shape of the heel and front parts of the foot, and a spring plate formed in two parts by a transverse division and having each of the parts secured to the member so the parts will contact along the line of division and may twist freely to adjust themselves laterally to the conformation of the bony structure of the foot, and a spring member secured to one of said parts, said spring member to contact the shoe and to have sliding contact to the other of said parts thus bridging over the division of the plate.

4. Anarch support, comprising a foot-contacting member formed of material which can part and slidable at its other end over the ball part, said spring member being arched downwardly so as to tend to lift the heel part with a spring action and twist freely to permit lateral adjustment movements of the ball part.

7. An arch support, comprising a flexible footcontacting member, a spring plate formed in two parts by a transverse division, said plates conjointly forming with the member a continuous flex both longitudinally and transversely such may twist freely to adjust themselves laterally' to the conformation of the bony structure of the foot, and a spring member secured'to one of said parts, said spring member to contact-the shoe and to have sliding contact to the other of said parts thus bridging over the division of the plate, said spring member being narrowed at its center where it foverlies the division between said parts and broadened at its plate-contacting end.

5. An arch support, comprising a foot-contacting member formed of material which can flex both longitudinally and transversely such as leather so as to twist transversely to conform longitudinally extended arch, one of said plates extending toward the heel part and the other plate toward the ball of the foot, a spring member secured at one end to the heel part and arched upwardly and then downwardly so as to contact at its front end the sole of the shoe and effect an upward yielding pressure upon the rear part, and a second spring member attached to the front of the first named spring member and extending rearwardly to engage the front part of said plate to give a springing upward lift to said front part, the arrangement of the two parts and of the two spring members being such as to permit hinging movements and lateral twisting movements of the two parts.

PRENTIS E. ERICKSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PrfiTE'NTS Number Name Date 826,631 Vogler July 24, 1906 1,401,066 Galloway Dec. 20, 1921 1,215,891 Vrooman Feb. 13, 1917 1,385,664 Calculli July 26, 1921 1,583,685 Grant May 4, 1926 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 186,662 Switzerland Dec. 1, 1936 

